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Flying Car

In January of this year, an unsual car set off from London, headed for Tombouctou, led by former British army officer Neil Laughton and inventor Gilo Cardozo. Incredibly the Parajet Skycar (an off-road buggy that can fly) made it all the way, surviving inhospitable terrain and stormy weather, and even threats of kidnap in parts of Africa.

The 42-day expedition covered 9000km, through France, Spain and Morocco, across the Sahara via Mauritania and Mali, then returned home via Senegal. The Skycar was supported by a team of overland adventurers in all kinds of all-terrain vehicles and supply trucks. The expedition proved the Skycar can function both on land and in the air.

To give you a better idea what it’s all about – the Skycar is a fully road-legal vehicle that accelerates to 62mph in just 4.2 seconds and has a top speed of 140mph. But it’s light enough to take off too.

In fly mode, the SkyCar hangs from a ram-air wing, and can take off from fields or airstrips in less than 200 meters. In theory it’s easier and safer to fly than any other aircraft, as it has no pitch control and is impossible to stall or dive.

If the engine does fail though, the pilot can glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert. If that doesn’t work, if the car suffers a catastrophic wing failure, or mid-air collision, there’s a reserve parachute, just in case…

Sounds very cool. If you’re interested in buying one, they should be available late 2010, priced around $75,000. RM